Main Window: Application Designer

Welcome to ScanTools! ScanTools Plus utility software is the right solution for organizations that want to use our OMR or image scanners to import data into their own software—like patient record and student information systems or even data-intensive spreadsheets.

With ScanTools Plus you determine how the data on a scan form—whether it's image data or traditional bubble responses—is read, edited, and prepared for output so that your application can handle the data with ease. Scanned data can be imported into virtually any application, from large information systems to desktop applications like Microsoft® Excel®.

ScanTools Plus is menu driven so that it is easy to set up the scanner interface for your specific application. Using point-and-click controls, you can quickly define the data collection areas on a standard or custom scan form and specify the format and location for the output file.

The Application Designer helps you create applications, containing documents, that define what forms are to be scanned and how to scan them. This main window appears when you click Open next to an application name in the Scanning module. This window lets you:

You can also set preferences to adjust the appearance of elements on this window. See Preferences dialog box for details.

Changing the interface

You can show or hide the toolbars and palettes on-screen.

Further, you can set tools or palettes to float or be docked to one side or the other of the window, pin them so that they are hidden when not in use, or stack them together.

Floating palettes

Float a tool or palette by clicking a docked or pinned palette's title bar and dragging it into the grid definition area. After the palette is floating, you can drag it anywhere in the grid definition area. ScanTools will remember its position and show it that way the next time you open the Application Designer.

Show me what floating palettes look like

Docking palettes

Dock a palette by grabbing each by the title bar and dropping onto a docking tool ( to dock on the left-hand side, for example). The palette is now set to appear in the location you chose. After a palette is docked, it can be pinned or stacked.

Show me what docked palettes look like

Pinning palettes

Pin a tool or palette by clicking in the title bar when the tool or palette is docked. After pinned, the tool or palette retracts when not in use and slides out when you hover the cursor over the tab. Unpin a tool or palette by clicking .

Show me what pinned palettes look like

Stacking palettes

Stack a palette onto a docked palette by dragging it onto the stacker docking tool () that appears when you drag a palette onto a docked palette). The palette docks on the side you drop the dragged palette onto - for example, drop the palette onto to stack it under the docked palette.

Show me what stacked palettes look like

What's on the screen?

Use this element…

…to…

Application title bar

View the title and number of the current application. If you have made changes but have not yet saved the application, an asterisk (*) appears after the application number.

Menu bar

Access tools and commands you'll need when creating applications. It includes:

File Menu
View Menu
Document Menu
Output Menu
Options Menu

Standard toolbar

Access commonly-used tools:

Click this icon…	…to…
	Move the toolbar to a new position. Click this handle and drag the toolbar to a new place in the toolbar area, or out onto the document editing area as a floating toolbar.
	Create a new application. See Application Settings Dialog for details. NOTE: If an application is open when you click the button, you can be prompted to save it before it is closed.
	Open an existing application. You can have one application open at a time.
	Save the open application.
	Cut the currently selected grid and place it on the Windows clipboard.
	Copy the selected grid to the Windows clipboard.
	Paste a grid from the Windows clipboard to the sheet. The grid is pasted in the same position it was when you cut it. NOTE: You must select or create a field for the grid contents before you can paste the grid. After pasting the grid, select the desired field, then click Append to associate the grid with the field. The field type for the associated field will match the pasted grid. See Output Palette for details on creating fields.
	View version and serial number information for ScanTools Plus.

Document toolbar

Access commonly-used document tools:

Click this icon…	…to…
	Move the toolbar to a new position. Click this handle and drag the toolbar to a new place in the toolbar area, or out onto the document editing area as a floating toolbar.
	Select a document to work with in the document editing area.
	Select a sheet in the current document to view and work with in the document editing area.
	Adjust the view size of the current sheet.
	View the front side of the current sheet. If you are viewing the front of the sheet, this button is inactive.
	View the back side of the current sheet. If you are viewing the back of the sheet, this button is inactive.
	Flip the current sheet. This moves the timing marks from one side of the sheet to the other.
	Scan a sheet and show the scanned image as the background form image. This can be helpful if your printer did not provide a background image of the form. The background image helps you ensure the grids you place in the form are in the right position, relative to what the form users sees when completing the form. NOTE: A scanned background form image does not show drop out colors. If you are using the scanned background form image to place grids, simply outline the grid areas with pencil or pen (depending on the light source you are using) so that the grid area can be easily seen.
	Show the settings for the open application. See Application Design Settings dialog box for details.

Grid Creation toolbar

Select a grid tool. After you click the tool, that tool's palette appears in the document editing area. Available tools are:

Click this icon…	…to…
	Move the toolbar to a new position. Click this handle and drag the toolbar to a new place in the toolbar area, or out onto the document editing area as a floating toolbar.
	Open the OMR Tool palette and define an OMR grid that form users can bubble in to provide data. See OMR Tool for details.
	Open the Barcode Tool palette and define a barcode grid. See Bar Code Tool for details.
	Open the Graybox Tool palette and define an graybox grid where form users can handwrite or type information. If you are using the optional RealTime Character Recognition utilizing NestorReader add on, you can also set this area up for character recognition. See Graybox Tool for details.
	Open the OMR Tool palette and define a string of characters (a "literal string) that can place data from the form header in the output record when the form is scanned. See Literal Tool for details.

Document editing area

View and work with the currently selected document. It shows the background image (if any is defined for this document - see Document and Sheet Properties Dialog - Background Tab) and any grids you defined to hold the scanned information from the form. Notice that grids show the characters that the form user can select. Grids that are more than one cell wide also have an arrow indicating the direction in which the data will be collected during scanning.

The vertical ruler shows positions of timing marks. Rows in the grid must line up with these timing marks to generate a valid scannable form. Timing marks are automatically generated for the document when you scan a sample form using the Document and Sheet Properties Dialog - General Tab. You can also use that dialog box to adjust the timing marks manually, if necessary. Notice that the form background image (if any) shows black rectangles next to each timing mark position. These marks help the scanner scan data accurately.

The horizontal ruler shows cell measurements so you can align the elements of your form visually. Any form ID marks (which appear as red boxes at the top of the form) on your form also line up with this ruler. Form ID marks are automatically generated for the document when you scan a sample form using the Document and Sheet Properties Dialog - General Tab. You can also use that dialog box to adjust the form ID marks manually, if necessary.

Tool palettes

View and work with the currently active tool. Available tools are:

OMR Tool
Bar Code Tool
Graybox Tool
Literal Tool

Output Palette

View and work with output field settings for the currently selected grid. See Output Palette for details.

Output Summary

View information regarding the document, the output record, the field, the possible responses, and the translation characters associated with the last selected grid. See Output Summary Palette for details.

Toolbar docking tabs

If you are dragging a toolbar or palette to a new location, you see markers in the center and at the edges of the window. These indicate places where you can dock the toolbar or palette. See Changing the interface, above, for details.

Status bar

View the current position of the mouse, the current state of Num lock, and the current state of Caps lock.

Main Window: Application Designer

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Common Actions